Thursday, August 29, 2019


Did you know all week you've had a chance to win a book not just for yourself, but for a friend as well?

Well, you still can!

Just head over to



And, if you head over to the
event page tonight
Thursday, August 29, at 7:00 pm (EST)
you could win a copy of 
A CRAFTER HOOKS A KILLER
 by Holly Quinn
and
a beautiful soap/lotion bottle 
hand painted by Holly herself!



Keep both for yourself, give both to your friend, or split and share!

I'll be there tonight, and I hope you will be too.

For now, head over to the event page
for a chance to win you and a friend print copies of
JEALOUSY FILLED DONUTS
by Ginger Bolton!


Tomorrow, Friday 30th
enter to win for you and a friend, print copies of
LET'S FAKE A DEAL 
by Sherry Harris!


And Saturday 31st
Buy a Friend a Book Day
enter to win for you and a friend, print copies of
CLAWS OF ACTION
by Linda Reilly!


What are you waiting for?
Get over to 

Wednesday, August 28, 2019


I'm so excited to join Berkley in 
celebrating the September 3 release of  
A NIGHT'S TAIL
Book 11 in the Magical Cats Mysteries
by Sofie Kelly


In the charming town of Mayville Heights, librarian Kathleen Paulson and her two cats pounce on clues to catch a killer, in the eleventh installment of this New York Times bestselling series.Spring is coming to Mayville Heights, and Kathleen’s brother, Ethan, has arrived in town with his band, The Flaming Gerbils. But not everything goes as scheduled when one of Ethan’s bandmates gets into a fight with a man interested in investing in the town. When the businessman’s body is later found, Ethan’s friend is implicated in the crime.

Kathleen wants to help her brother by solving the case, but she has no shortage of suspects from which to choose. Prior to his death, the investor was fighting like cats and dogs with lots of people. If this librarian wants more than a whisker’s chance of solving the case, she will need to rely on her trusty feline sidekicks, Owen and Hercules.

📚📖📚📖📚

!!!GIVEAWAY!!!

1 lucky reader will win a print copy of

A NIGHT'S TAIL

 From Berkley Books
Enter using the Rafflecopter form at the end of this post.

📚📖📚📖📚

MY REVIEW


Before I talk story, I just want to mention the cover of this book. Have you ever seen such a simple cover that is this eye catching? I mean, come on! Kitties on the moon!

Author Sofie Kelly once again delights fans of her Magical Cats Mysteries. A NIGHT’S TAIL was a fun, entertaining read with a mystery I found hard to solve. It may be in part to the fact there was an over-abundance of suspects. The victim was not well liked at all.

As always, I was enchanted with cats Owen and Hercules. These magical felines are always such a fun part of the books in this series. I dare say even non cat lovers would enjoy them.

Feline, traditional cozy, and para-cozy readers alike, are going to adore A NIGHT’S TAIL!

AVAILABLE
SEPTEMBER 3!


GOOD LUCK!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

As always, please leave a comment and 
let me know what you think!

Follow my blog by submitting your email in 
upper right hand corner of this page (on the side bar).

Reading from your phone? Scroll to the bottom of your page and click"View web version". Then follow the above directions.

Tuesday, August 27, 2019


It's new release day!
Check out some of the titles you can get today.

NEW IN MASS MARKET PAPERBACK

A red-bellied woodpecker may lead to a yellow-bellied killer . . .
 
One morning when unwilling early bird Amy Simms grabs her binoculars for a closer look at the woodpecker who’s been waking her up, she can't believe her eyes. Across Ruby Lake, through a curtain of rain, she sees a body being tossed out of an upstairs window at the old McKutcheon place.
 
Or at least she thinks she does. The police chief finds no body—only a discarded dressmaker's dummy—and complains that Amy sent him on a wild-goose chase. She should probably focus on minding her store, Birds & Bees, but Amy can't help snooping. And when she turns up another body—a murdered member of her birdwatching group—Amy once again needs to wing it as a sleuth to zoom in on a killer . . 

NEW IN MASS MARKET PAPERBACK

In these two beloved mysteries now collected in one volume for the very first time, Lucy Stone finds that on Halloween in Tinker’s Cove, Maine, the treats aren’t just sweet and delicious. Sometimes they’re also deadly.
 
Trick or Treat Murder
While Lucy Stone is whipping up orange-frosted cupcakes for her town’s annual Halloween festival, an arsonist is on the loose in Tinker’s Cove. When arson turns into murder, a little digging in all the wrong places puts Lucy too close to a shocking discovery that could send all her best-laid plans up in smoke . . .
 
Wicked Witch Murder
Not everyone in Tinker’s Cove is enchanted with newcomer Diana Ravenscroft and her quaint little shop offering everything from jewelry to psychic readings. But a gruesome murder of Diana’s friend has Lucy Stone uncovering a deadly web of secrets—and a spine-chilling brush with the things that go bump in the night . . .

NEW IN MASS MARKET PAPERBACK

An exploding Mardi Gras float has got to be the strangest murder weapon scrappy sleuth Carmela Bertrand has ever encountered in this Scrapbooking Mystery reprint from the New York Times bestselling author.

It's Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and scrapbook shop owner Carmela Bertrand is excited to be attending the Pluvius parade along with her best friend, Ava. Carmela's ex-husband, Shamus, rides by the duo on his float at the head of the parade, when suddenly the revelry turns to disaster. Shamus's float crashes and explodes, and although Shamus escapes unhurt, a member of his krewe is killed.

Carmela and Ava plunge into an investigation of the krewe member's death, but as they dig deeper, it starts to look less like an accident and more like a murder...and Shamus seems less like a victim and more like a suspect.

NEW IN MASS MARKET PAPERBACK

A smartphone dating game turns the Village Blend into a hookup hotspot--until a gunshot turns the landmark coffeehouse into a crime scene. 

As Village Blend manager Clare Cosi fixes a date for her wedding, her ex-husband is making dates through smartphone swipes. Clare has mixed feelings about these match-ups happening in her coffeehouse. Even her octogenarian employer is selecting suitors by screenshot! But business is booming, and Clare works hard to keep the espresso shots flowing. Then one night, another kind of shot leaves a dead body for her to find. 

The corpse is an entrepreneur who used dating apps with reckless abandon--breaking hearts along the way. The NYPD quickly arrests one of the heartbreaker's recent conquests. But the suspect's sister tearfully swears her sibling was framed. Clare not only finds reason to believe it, she fears the real killer will strike again. 

Now Clare is "swiping" through suspects in her own shop--with the help of her globetrotting ex-husband, a man who's spent his life hunting for coffee and women. Together they're determined to find justice before another shot rings out.


 Baker Katie Lightfoot serves up enchanted delicacies and tracks down a malicious murderer in the newest installment of this New York Times bestselling series...

Hedgewitch Katie Lightfoot is juggling wedding preparations, a visit from her father, and home renovations on top of her long hours at the Honeybee Bakery, where she and her aunt Lucy imbue their yummy cookies and pastries with beneficial magic. But when firefighter Randy Post is accused of murdering a collector of rarities, and his prints are on the statue that was used to kill the man, Katie steps in. 

Randy is not only Katie's fiancé's coworker, but also the boyfriend of fellow spellbook club member and witch Bianca Devereaux. Bianca and Declan are both sure Randy is innocent, and so is Katie. However, to prove it she'll have to work with ornery detective Peter Quinn again—and this time around he knows she's more than your everyday baker.


Residents of Rudolph keep the spirit of Christmas alive year-round—but their joy is threatened when a group of grinches visits the town, in the charming fourth installment of the Year-Round Christmas series.

It's the week before Thanksgiving, and Merry Wilkinson, owner of Mrs. Claus's Treasures, is preparing for a weekend reunion of her mother's college friends. But when the group of women comes into Merry's shop, Merry is met with frosty attitudes and cold hearts. 

The women argue amongst themselves constantly, and the bickering only intensifies after one of the friends is poisoned. With her father's role as Santa in danger due to his proximity to the crime, Merry will need to use all of her investigative gifts to wrap this mystery up and save Santa and her favorite holiday.


In the fourth in Vivien Chien's Noodle Shop delicious mystery series, Ho-Lee Noodle House is ready to take the Cleveland night market by storm―until a brand-new food venue literally explodes onto the scene.
Lana Lee is all smiles when the first evening of Cleveland’s Asian Night Market kicks off the summer. The weekly festival is always good for business, packed with locals and tourists, and this year, some stiff new food-truck competition. Wonton on Wheels, run by old friends of Lana’s parents, promises to have customers lining up for their delicately wrapped delights―until the truck blows up at evening’s end.
Lana’s boyfriend, Detective Adam Trudeau, had been planning a birthday getaway for the two of them but, lo and behold, Lana must assume the role of amateur sleuth yet again. With one proprietor of Wonton on Wheels dead, it’s beginning to look more like murder and less like an unfortunate accident. And as they begin to unwrap layers of disturbing secrets, Lana’s own family erupts into new drama. Will Lana be able to solve this crime―or has she jumped from the wok right into the fire?

Overcommitted committee member Abby McCree gets in a patch of trouble trying to solve the murder of a pumpkin farmer …
The small town of Snowberry Creek, Washington, is gearing up for the Halloween Festival, and naturally Abby is on the planning committee. As part of her duties, she's picking up a pumpkin order from ornery farmer Ronald Minter. But what she finds instead is the farmer in the middle of his corn maze with a knife in his back.

The police suspect a homeless veteran named Kevin Montgomery, who was seen arguing with Minter when the farmer accused him of trespassing and stealing pumpkins. Abby's tenant Tripp Blackston, a veteran himself who’s been helping Kevin, is sure he’s innocent. Together, Abby and Tripp follow the twists and turns of the case to corner the corn maze killer—before someone else meets a dead end …


When a firecracker becomes a murder weapon, Emily Westhill pursues a killer with a short fuse …
 
It is a truth universally acknowledged—cops and donuts go together. Exhibit A: Deputy Donut Café, owned and operated by detective's widow Emily Westhill and her father-in-law, the retired police chief of Fallingbrook, Wisconsin. Named after Emily's adored and adorable tabby, the donut shop is a favorite among cops, firemen, and EMTs, as well as tourists and townspeople. So when Fallingbrook needs donuts for their Fourth of July picnic, Emily's shop gets deputized.
 
But a twisted killer has found another use for Emily's treats. At the picnic, a firecracker is hidden in a stack of raspberry-filled donuts and aimed at the unwitting queen of the festivities. When it explodes, she is killed. Having her jelly donuts involved puts Emily in a sticky situation, and when a shady shutterbug tries to frame her with incriminating photos, she finds herself in quite a jam. To preserve her freedom and her shop's reputation, Emily needs to solve this case—before the fuse-lighting felon goes off again …


Autumn has arrived on the shores of Lake Michigan, but Marlee Jacob, proprietor of The Berry Basket, is feeling a chill for other reasons …
With the Harvest Health Fair in full swing, Marlee makes sure to stock up on elderberry products for cold and flu season. But this year there's also a run on mulberry when an eccentric customer wants to use the dried berries to ward off evil forces. True, it's almost Halloween, but something else seems to be spooking Leticia the Lake Lady, Oriole Point's oddest resident. She believes someone plans to kill her—and the ghost. Only mulberries can protect them. Marlee doesn't take her fears seriously until a man named Felix Bonaventure arrives in the village, asking questions about a mysterious woman.

The next day, Marlee finds Bonaventure dead on Leticia's property—shot through the heart with an arrow made of mulberry wood. And Leticia has disappeared. Marlee soon learns the Lake Lady has a deadly past that is connected to the famous Sable family who are in town for the health fair. A bunch of clues start to come together—and figuring out what's going on puts Marlee in a real jam …

Includes Berry Recipes!


Krissy Hancock and her pals are taking a coffee break—leaving their bookstore-café in Pine Hills, Ohio, and heading to a convention. But this road trip will be more dangerous than they expected …
 
Coffee lovers are gathering from far and wide at the hotel, and Krissy, Rita, and Vicki are excited. But some of the attendees may need to switch to decaf, as a public argument breaks out soon after they check in and then a flavor competition leads to bitter feelings.
 
When the winner of the contest is beaned with a carafe full of café mocha, suspicions swirl—along with accusations of bribery. Was the dead man offering perks to the judges—or was something sinister going on in his personal life? This case is going to keep Krissy up all night long …


A view to a kiln …
 
Sophie “Phee” Kimball enjoys working as a bookkeeper for a private investigator. If only her mother Harriet could enjoy her retirement at Sun City West in Arizona—instead of constantly getting involved with retirees being prematurely put out to pasture. This time Quentin Dussler, a prominent member of the clay sculpting club, was found dead, clutching a piece of paper scrawled with Phee’s mother’s name.
 
Terrified she’s been targeted by assassins, Harriet begs Phee to investigate. What Phee uncovers is a complicated scheme that only the most diabolical of murderers would ever devise. And as she chisels away at confusing clues and potential suspects, Phee unearths something far more precious and valuable than she could imagine. Eager for answers, she takes a bold step—placing herself in the crosshairs of a stonefaced killer …


It’s August in Goosebush, Massachusetts, and go-getter retiree Lilly Jayne and her youthful senior pals show no sign of slowing down during the lazy days of summer. But when murder mows over a pesky local, could a Garden Squad member be nurturing a deadly second act? 
 
While Lilly digs into a town beautification project, her friend Tamara O’Connor has greater concerns than well-pruned geraniums. The real-estate firm owner hasn’t been shy about blaming perennial grouch Gladys Preston for thwarting her many attempts to sell off a beautiful beachside property. But accusations fly when Gladys is suddenly found dead—and Tamara is caught standing over the body with a bloody weapon in her hand . . . 
 
As Tamara becomes the prime murder suspect, Lilly and the Garden Squad ladies set out to prove that someone planted the evidence. With a potpourri of alarming clues scattered around Goosebush, cracking this case means confronting a calculating culprit with a penchant for cutting down anyone who gets in the way . . .


Ivy Culpepper keeps the ovens hot at Yeast of Eden, a Northern California bakery that specializes in traditional breads. But now she has to deal with a stone-cold killer . . .
 
Just as Ivy’s brother Billy is about to get engaged to his beloved, a tragedy interrupts the happy moment. The body of longtime Santa Sofia resident Marisol Ruiz washes up on the beach—and it’s even more heartbreaking since Marisol’s father also recently died. But Marisol was a strong competitive swimmer. It seems unlikely there’s even a grain of truth to the theory that she accidentally drowned.
 
As Ivy gets to work helping her mentor, Olaya Solis, with the catering for Marisol’s funeral, she also teams up with her partners in detection—because if they want to prevent someone from getting away with murder, there’s no time for loafing . . .


Liss MacCrimmon’s meddlesome mother is back in Moosetookalook, Maine, to serve a hefty portion of trouble in time for Thanksgiving. But when a scandalous murder case threatens to leave Liss alone at the table, family drama takes on a terrifying new meaning . . . 
 
While Liss preps the Scottish Emporium for November’s inevitable shopping rush, other local businesses aren’t half as lucky. Year after year, her father-in-law’s rustic hotel can barely turn a profit during the stretch between autumn’s peak and ski season. Except this time, Mr. Ruskin realizes that the recipe for success lies in enticing an untapped niche clientele—childless couples desperate for a holiday away from family . . .
 
The unusual marketing tactic has everyone in Moosetookalook talking. Unfortunately, it also inspires a scathing social media campaign aimed at persuading tourists to boycott the hotel for affronting family values. Liss dismisses the bad publicity as being totally “overkilt”—until angry mobs fill the streets, the troublemaker who started it all turns up dead, and her loved ones are suspected of murder . . . 
 
With so much at stake, Liss can’t possibly follow police orders to stay out of the investigation. There’s just one wee problem: saving her own clan could mean sending a friend or two behind bars. Now—partly helped, partly hindered by her difficult mother—Liss must digest a slew of unsettling clues and catch the real killer . . . or else everything she’s ever been thankful for may vanish before her eyes.


First in a new series!
Someone is trying to turn Portland High into a school for scandal with a gossipy website called Dirty Laundry. The latest target of ruinous rumors is newly elected PTA president Sandra Wallage. After a heated meeting with outraged parents, Sandra runs into fellow school mom and private investigator Maya Kendrick, who's discovered the person behind the website. But when the women storm into the venomous gossip columnist’s office they find a lifeless body—along with a confession.
Although the police rule the death a suicide, Maya suspects an injured party hung the Dirty Laundry creator out to dry. Maya already has a PI partner—but she's pregnant, and sonograms and stakeouts tend to conflict. So when Sandra volunteers for a crash course in sleuthing, Maya accepts the help. But as these unlikely partners study the clues, a killer plans to teach them a lesson . . .


A casual outing to the Crystal Palace in London takes a mysterious and murderous turn in The Corpse at the Crystal Palace, the latest mystery in Carola Dunn’s beloved Daisy Dalrymple series.
April 1928: Daisy Dalrymple Fletcher is visited in London by her young cousins. On the list of must-see sites is the Crystal Palace. Discovering that her children's nanny, Nanny Gilpin, has never seen the Palace, Daisy decides to make a day of it―bringing her cousins, her 3-year-old twins, her step-daughter Belinda, the nurserymaid, and Nanny Gilpin. Yet this ordinary outing goes wrong when Mrs. Gilpin goes off to the ladies’ room and fails to return. When Daisy goes to look for her, she doesn't find her nanny but instead the body of another woman dressed in a nanny's uniform.
Meanwhile, Belinda and the cousins spot Mrs. Gilpin chasing after yet another nanny. Intrigued, they trail the two through the vast Crystal Palace and into the park. After briefly losing sight of their quarry, they stumble across Mrs. Gilpin lying unconscious in a small lake inhabited by huge concrete dinosaurs.
When she comes to, Mrs. Gilpin can't remember what happened after leaving the twins in the nurserymaid's care. Daisy's husband, Detective Chief Inspector Alec Fletcher of Scotland Yard, finds himself embroiled in the investigation of the murdered nanny. Worried about her children's own injured nanny, Daisy is determined to help. First she has to discover the identity of the third nanny, the presumed murderer, and to do so, Daisy must uncover why the amnesic Mrs. Gilpin deserted her charges to follow the missing third nanny.


As the Great Depression loosens its grip on New York City, Mayor La Guardia and his team meet their greatest foe in the fight against organized crime …
Lane Sanders and her fiery boss, Mayor Fiorello “Fio” La Guardia have managed to contain the explosive underground conspiracies of New York’s most sinister schemers. But after a seemingly harmless pinball racket claims the life of a trusted ally, a new ringleader signals the rebirth of an all-too-familiar crime network at home and across the pond …

Spurred on by the possibility of a violent syndicate spreading like wildfire through Europe, Lane sets sail for London—the city where her parents began the undercover work that led to their tragic undoing. And this time, she won’t chase down childhood nightmares without Finn Brodie, who vows to dispel his own difficult secrets abroad …

While Finn confronts a devious sibling’s plot that echoes Orson Welles’s Voodoo Macbeth, Lane discovers that a dazzling pearl dagger may wield the ultimate clue to guide their hunt for justice on two sides of the ocean. With terrors from the past and present converging, Lane can’t save herself unless she starts believing that, like her weapon of choice, she also has the power to be both beautiful and dangerous.

AUDIO

Mallory's fine - really - handling the wedding arrangements for her ex, Keith. But his fiancée, Becca, has at the last minute decided to switch from a Japanese-cherry-blossom theme to a Gone with the Wind theme. She wants to honor her ailing grandmother, who owns an impressive collection of Gone with the Wind memorabilia - and who is fiercely at odds with the groom's mother over the nuptial plans. 
But among other complications, Becca gets into a fight with an old childhood rival over a replica Scarlett O'Hara wedding gown. She wins the dress - but soon becomes a murder suspect when the other woman is found dead in Becca's swimming pool. And it's up to Mallory to solve the mystery behind this unhappy occasion, before a different kind of civil war breaks out.

🤯

Wow! Cozy  mystery jackpot!
Which one(s) are you the most excited about?











As always, please leave a comment and 
let me know what you think!

Follow my blog by submitting your email in 
upper right hand corner of this page (on the side bar).

Reading from your phone? Scroll to the bottom of your page and click"View web version". Then follow the above directions.